Critical mass for Divest Terror program

As European-led negotiations aimed at convincing Islamofascist Iran to abandon its nuclear designs continue to falter – increasing the likelihood that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will acquire the capability to follow through on his threats to "wipe Israel off the map" and bring about "a world without America" – progress on another front leaves reason for hope that Tehran’s designs may yet be defeated.

In her column in today’s Jerusalem Post, CSP Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs Caroline B. Glick reports that the international campaign to divest from companies doing business with the Mullahocracy – potentially costing the regime hundreds of billions of dollars – is gaining powerful allies.  During the Herzliya Conference held January 24-27 in Israel, former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain all went on record in support of pension fund divestment. 

Further promising news in the divestment campaign appeared earlier this week in the form of talks between former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the state treasurers of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut to explore the divestment of those states’ public pension funds from companies that do business with Tehran.  As Ms. Glick observes, Iran stands to lose $71 billion from these five states alone.

Thankfully, a model already exists for these states to follow in the form of the one adopted by the Missouri Investment Trust (MIT) last June, which expunged from its portfolio companies that did business with any state-sponsor of terror.  Importantly, this first-in-the-nation step to deny those regimes the vital resources, technology and cash to support their terrorist proxies has actually led to stronger returns for MIT’s investors.

While these recent events underscore the tremendous and still-growing influence of the DivestTerror.org campaign launched by the Center for Security Policy more than two years ago, much remains to be accomplished – starting with divestment by the many-billion dollar Federal Thrift Savings Plan for which all executive branch, congressional and other federal government employees are eligible.  It is now unmistakably clear:  It is no more practical than it is moral to continue to finance both sides of this War for the Free World.